Fender



Dec. 7 1926. 1,609,516

E. KNICKERBOCKER FENDER Filed March 5l, 1926 nl?. Eziflferzslfr (Imran- STATES consists of a plurality ofbars flexibly and Patented Dec. 7,1926;

" PA TE Nr oF FiclzQA l EVALYN KNICKERBOGKER, or Mn'rAWAN, New JERSEY. f

minnen.` y

Appiation med Marcher 19am serial Yirofeaezs.

f This invention relatesv to fenders forV autol` mobiles and the general object of the invenf( tion is tol provide a fender which, .under normal circumstances, vconsists ineffect of a single bar extending across the automobile in front of the radatorand preferably in front ofthe steering wheels, which fender preferably hingedly connected to each other so that thebarsmay belfolded .up against the `top bar of the fender under normal circumstances but-:dropped to,` provide a series. of transversely extending :guardbars under ordinary circumstances f t' Fig. 5 isa like view to or. fenderbarsextending downward 'to the roadway when the bars lare released.

A furtherV object is to .provide means under the control of, the lmotorist forfreleasing said bars instantaneously whenever. it isV necessary and providey means for ,holding said bars raised to form the ordinary` fender AV still further object is to providea fendf er.. which .will not only when in luse act as a guardto prevent injury-to persons who may lbe knocked down bythe. automobile, .but which will alsov act to some* extent as abrake. d v,

Other objeots'will appearv inA the course of the following description.` f;

My invention is v illustrated panying drawingsY wherein Figure 1 is ay front view of an;` automobile equippedwith my improved fender, theV fen-A der being lowered;

Fig. `2'is a plan view `ofthe struoture" A shown in Figure 1;

ing' the fender .partially raised. I

Referringto thedrawingsit will he seen that I have illustrated 1 a conventional and ordinary automobile having ythe usual front axle fA, a radiator Bg and the'` wheels C'.

l Extending longitudinally ofthe automobile,

as illustrated in Figure 3, and attaohedto the frame thereof in any suitable manner,

as by bands 10, are the tubesV 1 1 which may be made of any suitablematerialvand whichr extend to apositonin .front of the radiater,

the face thereof.

lof the .chains 18,

jin, the accom- VThe tubes .carryAV the transversely V.extending uppermostV bar' v1.2 .which is thus permanently supporteduponthe automobile atthe normal height of theY fender. This transversebar.

might V be supported/ in any other 'desiredl way .butV preferably the `guide tubes will extend rearward from this bar `and open upon .Coacting'with ythe bars. 12 are aplurality offender bars 13, 14 .and v15. These. are flexibly connected to each other as by hinges 16' and apertured as'atV 17 forthepassage is attached to the last bar of the series 15 Each ofi these 'chainsv 18,`

as-by attaching the chainV to a 'plate 19Y rivetedv or otherwiseiattached to the bar 15'.

Each chain Apasses upward from the bar'l, Y"

thenthrough thehole 17 in the bar 14, then upward .on vtheinside of the bar 13 through the hole '17 thereof, and through the opening in Vthe bar V12 and along the pipe 11. Thus,

when these chains are drawn taut,the bars will be drawny upward against the upper bar 12 and the fender will consist of four thicknesses o f bars 112, 13, 14 `and'15 in over-A lying relations. These Vbars `are* preferably connected to each other by lhingesl disposedin reverseorder to each other. so that as fthe chains 1 8 are tightened, the lowery;

bar 15 will rise upwardragainst the frontv facer'of the bar 14, the bar 14 will' then rise upward against the front'face of theVVV barY 13,- andthe threebars will then beraised up against the front face of the .bar12.y I

do notrwish to be limited to any particular means forholding the, chains 18 taut with the bars in their overlapped and raised posi'- Ation but have illustrated for' this purpose' 'and preferably use a shaft 20 which is mounted suitable bearings in thevfram'e ofjthe machine.and carries: upon it the wheels 21',Ithesewhe`els being preferably l grooved and may be' Vtoothed to engagethe chains 18. g The'. shaft 20 V'at :one endffmay .be formed with :a socket 22 for engagement by '"aV .removablecrank23 so that the shaft may 'be'turnedtov wind up the chains on the Vdrums or pulleys 21.V The shaft 20j car# riesnpn-ita toothed or ratchet wheel 24j and jcoacting VVtherewith vis, a pawl 25 `norfi mally,V engaging the' teeth von the .wheel 24 and preventing the shaft from unwinding.

The pani is releaseclgbymeane orVA special.

26 preferably disposed 'on the floor of the car immediately in advance of the drivers seat. The pawl is urged against the toothed wheel by thespring 27. 4Any suitable pawl operating mechanism may be used.

The manner in which this fender operates will be obvious from whathas gonebefore. Under normal circumstances the fender bars will be folded one upon `the other and present the appearance of the usual fender and will, of course, act as theusual fender. The upper fender bar-y might be supported by springs `solas to also act as a bumper. In case there is danger of running down a person or animal, `the driver immediately releases the pawl and the fender bars fall downward and take theposition shown in Figure l and completely'prevent anybody from getting under the wheels or beneath the machine. The lowerinost bar will pref erably just touch the road surface so'that it will swingbackward beneath the wheels of the automobile and there will be no chance of any` obstruction acting to crowd the fender upward. It willbe seen that the fend` er barshave a `length greater than the distance between the front wheels of the machine and are disposed in advance of these front wheels` so that when the fender is` dropped and if the fender should Vstrike an obstruction, the fender will swing rearward until the fender lodges against the wheels. This rearward movement would occur very shortly after the fender` had struck the impediment but this rearward movement` will be sufiicient to relieve the impact which would be present if a relaf tively immovable fender struck an object such as a person. The fact'thatthe fender is sufficiently long totouch the road and the fact that it will swing rearward against the wheels will cause it to act somewhat as brake, as beforestated. i

Thilo I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangement of parts which I prefer and regard as being particularly effective, I do not wishto be limited thereto as many changes might be made therein without departingfrom the spirit ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

l. The combination with an automobile, of a fender composed of a plurality of sections flexibly connected to each other for folding movement upon each other and for rearward swinging movement when the secy tions are unfolded, the uppermost section being mounted` upon the automobile, and

flexible means for drawing the sections up into overlapping engagement with each other against the permanently mounted section or for releasing said sections to permit them to fall to a depending` position.

i2. The combination with an automobile,

of a fender section permanently mounted upon the forward end thereof in advance of the front wheels of the automobile, a pluraiity of fender sections disposed in successive order, each of last named fender sections having a length greater than the distance between said front wheels, flexible con-- releasable to permit the fender sections to drop,`the fendersections being flexibly connectedto each other to permit them to swing rearward toward the front wheels of the automobile when the sections are released and dropped.

3, The combination with lan automobile, of a fender `section permanently mounted thereon, a plurality of fender sections 'flexibly `connected to" each other and flexibly connected to the first named fender section, Hexible connections passing through the several sections and when taut drawing said sections upward, and means for holding the flexible connections taut, said means being releasable by the driver of the automobile to permit the sections to fall.

Il. The combinationwith an automobile, of a `fender section fixedly mounted upon the automobile, a series of fender sections hingedly' connected to each other and to the fixed fender section, a plurality of flexible connections passing loosely through all of thefender sections except` the lower section and attached to saidlower section and acting when taut to draw the fender sec-` tions upward and into overlapping relation,

and means forholding' the flexible connections tant, said means beingreleasable by gliel driver to permit` the fender sections to 5; The combination with an automobile, of a fender sec-tion fixedly mounted upon the automobile and extending transversely thereof beyond the steering wheels, a plu# rality `of' flexibly connected fender sections, the uppermost section of which is flexibly connected to the fixed fender section, flexible connections attachedto the lowermost fender section and passing loosely through the other fender sections and extending reai-, ward on each side of thefautomobile and when taut acting to hold the fender sections in superposed relation, a winding shaft upon whichthe flexible connections are wound` means for rotating said shaft to wind up the flexible connections, al ratchet wheel on the shaft, and a manually releasable pawl engaging the ratchet wheel.

6. The combination with an automobile of tubes disposed on each side thereof and extending'to the front thereof, a fender section fixed to said tubes and through which the tubes open, flexible connections passing through said tubes :a lowermost vfender section toV Which the flexible connectons are attached, fender sections ntermedate the lowermost section nd the Xed Y fender section having openings through the flexible connections are Wound, and manually releasable means for holding the Winding shaft from -unvvnlng EVALYN KNIC ER'BOCKER. 

